Company: Stott Outdoor
Markets: California, Nevada and Oregon
Headquarters: Chico, CA 95927.
Stott Outdoor has been in business since 1949. The Company is based in Chico and services Northern California as well as parts of Nevada and Oregon. The company operates bulletins, posters and a transit advertising business.
Jim MoravecPresident, CEO Jim Moravec is an OAAA Board Member and Insider had the opportunity for a quick interview.
Jim, you operate in three western states. How has Covid impacted Stott Outdoor and have you noticed any differences by state?
The early days of Covid were certainly uncertain and a bit scary. Many advertisers with whom we have done business with for years were being ordered to close. Posters and Transit were impacted to the greatest extent as those products have many contracts for short time periods promoting events ranging from auto racing to bridal shows and those events were simply canceled. Directional bulletins were impacted to the least extent. The impact was more measurable by product than geography. We worked hard and by the 4th quarter had righted the ship and actually exceeded our previous years Q4 numbers. That trend is continuing as we move into 2021
You also operate both a billboard and a transit operation. Was one segment impacted more than the other by the Covid outbreak and restrictions?
We operate in small to mid size transit markets and the consumer of the advertising is not so much the users of transit as it is the people in cars being exposed to the messaging. That said as some transit systems scaled back operation our advertising was not on the street with the same level of frequency prompting credits being issued to advertisers. This was for a short period of time and transit agencies worked with us in reducing payments. While our transit was impacted to a greater extent we have found that it has largely recovered.
Did you have the opportunity to grow or make any changes to your inventory in 2020?
Sure, we are always growing and gaining additional inventory that is a focus. Did some construction of new bulletins and deployed some new digital.
Korbe PalmerI noticed that you have a change in title and the Company has made a General Manager hire? Tell us about the change and introduce us to Korbe.
Yes we are making some changes. My involvement will continue on big picture matters however I am scaling back from day to day, hour to hour management of the company. I really like the business however look forward to putting the long days and weeks behind me. I was very fortunate to connect with Korbe Palmer who is now taking the reins as the companies third General Manager since its founding in 1949. Korbe has the experience, skills and work ethic to be a great leader and continue the growth of the company. Korbe gained good experience in Seattle, however I was most impressed with his time in Casper WY, a plant (pre Lamar) I was GSM of some 20 plus years prior to Korbe being GM there. A very interesting connection. ? Stott Outdoor has a very bright future with Korbe at the helm. Our entire team is excited to have him here.
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Stott Outdoor has been in business since 1949. The Company is based in Chico and services Northern California as well as parts of Nevada and Oregon. The company operates bulletins, posters and a transit advertising business.
General Manager Jim Moravec is an OAAA Board Member and Insider had the opportunity for a quick interview.
Jim, can you provide us with some detail about Stott Outdoors inventory and the areas you cover?
In our core market which is the DMA of Chico/Redding we operate bulletins, digital, posters, junior posters, transit shelters and busses. In addition to this we own and operate bulletins only throughout much of California and northern Nevada
We understand you also have a transit and bus shelter operation. What cities do you serve?
We serve Salem, Corvallis, Medford and Klamath Falls Oregon as well Redding, Chico, Yuba City/Marysville, Modesto, Stockton and Turlock CA.
Last year, a number of Stott employees were impacted by the Northern California wildfires. Can you provide us with an update on how all are doing?
Although seven of our employees lost their homes I am very pleased that all are still working at Stott Outdoor. This is unlike many area businesses which had impacted employees leave the area. All employees at a minimum are now in semi-permanent housing (semi-permanent meaning they are comfortable for the next 2-3 years however not likely where they will be 10 years from now). We have one employee that has been issued a permit to re-build and two that have bought new homes with the remainder being in the semi-permanent category.
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Lamar Advertising Acquires Stott OutdoorSeptember 13, 2021 12:06 amViews: 1627
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Billboard Insider confirmed over the weekend that Lamar Advertising has purchased all the assets of Stott Outdoor based in Chico California. Insider understands the transaction closed on Wednesday of last week.
This was absolutely a great acquisition for Lamar. It now gives Lamar a true Northern California presence, including inventory and an office location, which they’ve desired for some time. Here is a map of the Stott locations.
As to numbers and types of structures, here is that detail from Stott’s website.
Johnsen, Fretty & Co. were the exclusive advisors to Stott Outdoor in the transaction. Here is a comment from Steve Fretty,
Stott developed a terrific set of assets in attractive markets under the helm of Jim Moravec and his team. As a result, the opportunity garnered strong interest from the buyer community. Market conditions remain very robust.No financial details on the transaction as Lamar typically keeps transactions under an NDA, Should have the information at their next quarterly release. You might remember that in our February conversation with Jim Moravec, long time CEO at Stott, Jim indicated he would be reducing some of his day to day duties at the Company. Also at that time, Korbe Palmer was announced as the new General Manager for Stott Outdoor. Just prior to coming to Stott, Korbe was the Lamar GM of their Seattle market.
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